That’s (almost) all folks!

I’m writing this on Friday morning at the end of the last ‘full’ week in school before the summer break. And what a week! I’m sure I’ll have forgotten something, but this week:

On Monday students and staff took place in the whole school elections for student leaders. Expertly managed by Mrs Wilson, over 1200 votes were cast and counted. Congratulations to all the candidates who did a wonderful job, and to the winners. Amelia D (Y9), Will M (Y9), Jemima W (Y8) all join the leadership team, Lilly B and Charlie B (Y11) became the two Head Students and Issy B-M and Harriet R (Y11) became the two deputy head students.

On Tuesday the whole of year nine and around 30 members of staff had the privilege of meeting and listening to Anne Super, a Holocaust Survivor, who told us about her experiences as a young girl before answering questions from the students. Anne was amazing, and so were the 300 members of the class of 2025 who were impeccable in their manners and so mature with their questions. It was a very special moment for me as a headteacher and history teacher.

On Wednesday we welcomed the nine members of staff who are joining the team in September. It was great to meet them and support them in getting ready for next academic year. We also had our first official ‘Celebration Evening’ since 2019, which is so long ago! It was a pleasure to be able to hand awards to around 80 students who have gone above and beyond this year. As I said at the time, there are hundreds of brilliant students and MHS and I would have liked to have had them all there…but sadly that isn’t possible.

Between Monday and Thursday new years 8 to 10 had their ‘celebration assembly’, where prizes are awarded and students perform a variety of pieces to entertain their peers. It’s always nice to see the year groups get together and celebrate their peers.

On Thursday the Geography team took the second half of the new Year 11 cohort out on a very successful ‘Rivers’ fieldtrip, while the PE Department took a team of U13 girls cricketers out for the next stage of their competition. Thursday night also saw our annual Spark night, a festival of the arts with an exhibition, debating, busking, art auction and of course a full performance with group numbers, soloists, dancers and more. The staff even took to the stage but the less said about that the better! If was wonderful to see Bradshaw Hall full again, for what is rapidly becoming my favourite night of the year. Oh, and tickets for October’s ‘Bugsy’ performances go on sale next week on the website – don’t miss out, it’s already looking great!

The only cloud this week has been the literal ones that are sitting over school right now as I type this blog. We ought to be a few hours away from the main event of the week – the Spark Day festival on the field. Sadly, after a lot of preparation from so many people, the weather forecast is against us and we’ve had to scale it right back to the bare bones. Students are taking part in creative lessons during period three, we have some additional events on at break and lunch, but the organised afternoon events are not taking place. It’s a shame, but the event is so big it simply won’t fit indoors. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next year!

So, all in all a busy week – especially as on top of all of the above we’ve also taught lessons every day and carried on learning right to the end. Our new Year 11s head off to work experience next week, 400+ students are on trips away from school and the rest will be taking part in 3.5 days of activities designed to help them experience different things and work with different people. I’m looking forward to it!

There won’t be a blog next week, so I’ll sign off by saying THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us this year. We couldn’t do it without you.

Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful summer,

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

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